This invention relates to inflatable evacuation slides which are now installed on substantially all passenger-carrying aircraft to provide a means for rapid evacuation from the aircraft in the event of an emergency. These inflatable evacuation devices are normally folded in an uninflated condition into a pack requiring a minimum of space in the interior of the aircraft door or immediately adjacent thereto. With the aircraft door closed, a girt extending from the inflatable evacuation slide is connected to the floor inside the aircraft doorway such that in the event of an emergency it is only necessary to open the aircraft door to automatically deploy the slide. With the opening of the door, the girt will pull the evacuation slide from its container thereby allowing the slide to fall through the now open doorway. Subsequently, the evacuation slide is rapidly inflated and is then ready for the evacuation of passengers within a very short period of time following the opening of the door.
When an inflatable evacuation slide is initially deployed from an aircraft, it is necessary to restrain the slide from fully opening until at least some minimum inflation occurs. While only a short interval of time lapses between deployment of the slide and full inflation of the slide, various ambient wind conditions can prevent proper deployment unless suitable restraints are provided. Examples of such restraints are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,606,939 and 3,897,861. As faster deployment times are being required and more stringent wind conditions must be met, more directional control of the deployment of the slide is being considered. Also, while in the normal situation, the aircraft door is situated so that the inflatable evacuation slide can extend directly outward therefrom with the bottom of the slide resting on a lower surface to provide a straight-line sliding surface from the aircraft door to the lower surface, there are some situations in which it is desirable or even necessary to deploy the slide at an angle other than directly outward with respect to the aircraft door.